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From a little league baseball star to the Republican Party's culture warrior-in-chief, the rise of Ron DeSantis has been impossible to ignore.

When he entered the race to be the next US president, he was initially seen as the top rival for Mr Trump.

But he suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after only narrowly beating his nearest rival, Nikki Haley, to second place in the Iowa caucuses, far behind Mr Trump.

Under his watch, Florida has become a hotbed for so-called anti-woke laws such as the heavily-criticised "Don't Say Gay" bill and a ban on teaching critical race theory.

The Sunshine State has also introduced restrictions on abortion following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v Wade, enacting a ban on abortion after six weeks.

Sky News takes a look at five things you might not know about the politician who was once stationed at the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

He's descended from Italian immigrants

DeSantis, 44, is Italian-American - in fact, all eight of his great-grandparents were born in Italy.

His mother's grandfather was known as Antonio Rogers in America, but back in Italy he was Antonio Ruggiero - he changed his name after entering the US.

When it comes to immigration policy as governor, DeSantis has taken a hardline approach and has repeatedly and publicly clashed with President Biden.

Perhaps his most high-profile immigration decision was the state paying for 50 mostly Venezuelan immigrants to be flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts to, he claimed, highlight the crisis at the southern border.

He was a talented baseball player before joining the navy

DeSantis was part of the Dunedin team in Florida that made it to the Little League World Series in 1991 - a version of Major League Baseball's World Series for children aged 10 to 12 years old.

He then went on to captain the Yale University varsity team where he played as an outfielder and led the team in batting average.

Any designs on turning pro were shelved, however, when he attended Harvard Law School and went on to join the US military as a navy lawyer.

While his service records were redacted upon release to the public, it is known that he worked with detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

One detainee has since alleged that DeSantis was present while he was restrained and force-fed.

DeSantis denied authorising force-feedings of prisoners who were on hunger strike - something he said he did not have the authority to do - in a recent interview with Piers Morgan.

In 2018, he reflected on his time at Guantanamo Bay, saying: "Everything at that time was legal in nature, one way or another."

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He signed a 'No Climate Tax Pledge'

It might be the biggest challenge of our time but, when it comes to climate change, DeSantis has been inconsistent.

In 2013, shortly after he became a member of the US House of Representatives, DeSantis signed a pledge to "oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue".

Fast forward eight years and the now-governor of Florida unveiled a plan for the state to start addressing the effects of rising global temperatures, beefing up things such as coastal defences.

Discussing the plan, he said: "What I've found is when people start talking about things like global warming, they typically use that as a pretext to do a bunch of left-wing things that they would want to do anyways.

"And so we're not doing any left-wing stuff."

And while he has assigned large amounts of cash towards dealing with the effects of rising temperatures, some point out that he is not doing enough to tackle the root cause: human-caused climate change.

Read more about the other candidates and former candidates:
Nikki Haley - The only woman vying for the Republican nomination
Who is Tim Scott? Republicans' only black senator
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the 'anti-woke' Republican?
Chris Christie - Trump's former friend who is 'going after' him

He's in a feud... with Disney

On 26 September 2009, DeSantis married his wife, former newsreader Casey Black, at Disney's Grand Floridian resort. Now Disney World is suing the Florida governor (for reasons unconnected to his wedding).

The feud has been going on for more than a year after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill concerning discussion of sexuality and gender identity in classrooms.

DeSantis said Disney, which is one of his state's biggest employers and its single biggest taxpayer, was a purveyor of "woke" ideology that shows inappropriate material to children.

As punishment for its opposition to the bill, DeSantis took over Disney World's self-governing district that it used to run its Florida theme park, through legislation passed by state politicians and appointed a new board of supervisors.

Disney is now suing DeSantis, claiming that he waged a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" and that the company's free speech rights were violated.

He's famed for stoking culture wars - and his 'anti-woke' agenda is having an impact

DeSantis's crusade against all things "woke" has included banning public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity programs as well as curtailing education about critical race theory, a way of thinking about US history through the lens of racism.

He chose to sign the funding bill into law at New College of Florida, a small, traditionally-progressive school in Sarasota.

A small group of protesters gathered outside the signing ceremony. DeSantis, as well as most of the speakers at the event, ridiculed them.

"You know, I saw some of the protesters out there. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for more," DeSantis said with a smile as his supporters clapped.

In May, the NAACP civil rights organisation issued a travel advisory for Florida over what it said was DeSantis's "aggressive attempts to erase black history and to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion programs".

Dr Bernice King, daughter of celebrated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, said her father would be "deeply concerned" about the "harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida".

The governor also signed a bill that will bar trans people from using public facilities that align with their gender identities and another that will restrict "adult" performances in front of minors. He said the latter measure was intended to limit drag performances.

The road to the White House runs out

Polling saw DeSantis consistently trailing former President Trump. This was despite Trump's various legal problems, including a jury in a civil case finding him liable for sexually abusing a woman in a department store changing room in the 1990s.

DeSantis was once viewed as the most formidable challenger to Trump, but his campaign was plagued by infighting, staff turnover and shifts in direction.

While his stance in favour of strict limits on abortion made him popular among some religious conservatives, it alienated more moderate voters.

DeSantis announced his decision to suspend his campaign on 21 January and endorsed Trump for president.

"If there was anything I could do to produce a favourable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it," he said on X, formerly Twitter.

"But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources. We don't have a clear path to victory."